Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

What SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Spotify don't have

We are living in the age of the democratized music industry

John Fahey, early indie
John Fahey, early indie

Dear Hipster:

Given that SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Spotify make it relatively simple for musicians (myself included) to put their tracks, mixtapes, EPs, and albums out in front of an internet audience, it’s almost as if everyone these days (with the exception of mainstream pop stars) is an indie musician whose music you’ve never heard. If 100 obscure indie musicians are releasing self-produced albums for every one musician dropping an album through conventional channels (i.e. a record label), does that mean the mainstream musicians releasing their albums through labels are actually less mainstream? Would it be more hipster nowadays to pay the man for the right to release your music?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Uncle Sun (Muteallyourfriends.bandcamp.com)

This is a prime example of how there’s more to this hipster thing than simply being in a pop cultural minority. Grandma Hipster, who was big on etiquette, used to tell me, “It’s not always what you say so much as how you say it.” The hipster cognate to that folksy truism is, “It’s not what always what you do so much as how you do it.”

American guitarist John Fahey is widely regarded as one of the first indie musicians, at least according to the contemporary hipster understanding of an indie musician (to thwart anyone who wants to jump in here and talk about some indie Renaissance minstrel). Fahey founded his own “label,” Takoma Records, and pressed 100 copies of his debut album in 1959. The album was never marketed or sold to the public. Not only did Fahey have to compose and perform all the material, he had to take care of everything from having the vinyl pressed to designing the dust jacket. Fahey really laid the ground work for the tradition of hipster musicians doing everything the hard way, and anyone who doesn’t think that’s hipster AF is being difficult. Along a similar vein, I have an old Jamaican dub record produced by David “Coxsone” Dodd, and the dust jacket is printed on reclaimed cardstock from a case of tea, which I like to think was because the record was pressed by a ragtag bunch of hipsters who did their best with what they had.

In comparison to that, contemporary online album releases aren’t all that hipster because they’re too straightforward. Now, I don’t mean they’re too easy to write and perform. The creative accomplishment of actually putting thought to word and word to deed is not diminished one iota by a change in medium, and someone who puts out a great record on SoundCloud isn’t any less of a musician than somebody who puts out am equally great record on a prestigious label. However, having access to a computer and the iTunes store puts all the tools necessary for a self-released album within relatively easy reach. This is in keeping with the nature of technology generally, which is that it trends downwards in cost and upwards in availability over time, and has done so ever since only the fanciest cavemen in government labs had stone tools. Accordingly, we are living in the age of the democratized music industry.

Of course, that’s probably a good thing because it means more music for the world to enjoy. Capricious gatekeeping by the music industry no longer controls what reaches consumer ears. More participants in the sound market, so to speak, ought to create a more musically competitive space. As an answer to your initial question, I wouldn’t say this revolution reverses the relationship between mainstream musicians and hipster/indie musicians. It’s more like it obliterates that distinction, so if you’re looking for a hipster edge, you’ll need to search further afield.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
John Fahey, early indie
John Fahey, early indie

Dear Hipster:

Given that SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Spotify make it relatively simple for musicians (myself included) to put their tracks, mixtapes, EPs, and albums out in front of an internet audience, it’s almost as if everyone these days (with the exception of mainstream pop stars) is an indie musician whose music you’ve never heard. If 100 obscure indie musicians are releasing self-produced albums for every one musician dropping an album through conventional channels (i.e. a record label), does that mean the mainstream musicians releasing their albums through labels are actually less mainstream? Would it be more hipster nowadays to pay the man for the right to release your music?

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Uncle Sun (Muteallyourfriends.bandcamp.com)

This is a prime example of how there’s more to this hipster thing than simply being in a pop cultural minority. Grandma Hipster, who was big on etiquette, used to tell me, “It’s not always what you say so much as how you say it.” The hipster cognate to that folksy truism is, “It’s not what always what you do so much as how you do it.”

American guitarist John Fahey is widely regarded as one of the first indie musicians, at least according to the contemporary hipster understanding of an indie musician (to thwart anyone who wants to jump in here and talk about some indie Renaissance minstrel). Fahey founded his own “label,” Takoma Records, and pressed 100 copies of his debut album in 1959. The album was never marketed or sold to the public. Not only did Fahey have to compose and perform all the material, he had to take care of everything from having the vinyl pressed to designing the dust jacket. Fahey really laid the ground work for the tradition of hipster musicians doing everything the hard way, and anyone who doesn’t think that’s hipster AF is being difficult. Along a similar vein, I have an old Jamaican dub record produced by David “Coxsone” Dodd, and the dust jacket is printed on reclaimed cardstock from a case of tea, which I like to think was because the record was pressed by a ragtag bunch of hipsters who did their best with what they had.

In comparison to that, contemporary online album releases aren’t all that hipster because they’re too straightforward. Now, I don’t mean they’re too easy to write and perform. The creative accomplishment of actually putting thought to word and word to deed is not diminished one iota by a change in medium, and someone who puts out a great record on SoundCloud isn’t any less of a musician than somebody who puts out am equally great record on a prestigious label. However, having access to a computer and the iTunes store puts all the tools necessary for a self-released album within relatively easy reach. This is in keeping with the nature of technology generally, which is that it trends downwards in cost and upwards in availability over time, and has done so ever since only the fanciest cavemen in government labs had stone tools. Accordingly, we are living in the age of the democratized music industry.

Of course, that’s probably a good thing because it means more music for the world to enjoy. Capricious gatekeeping by the music industry no longer controls what reaches consumer ears. More participants in the sound market, so to speak, ought to create a more musically competitive space. As an answer to your initial question, I wouldn’t say this revolution reverses the relationship between mainstream musicians and hipster/indie musicians. It’s more like it obliterates that distinction, so if you’re looking for a hipster edge, you’ll need to search further afield.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party

A couple of accidental crashes at California English
Next Article

San Diego Holiday Experiences

As soon as Halloween is over, it's Christmas time in my mind
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader